Infertility causes, treatments, and clinical management

¶ … Sexually transmitted disease [...] Chlamydia, a disease that can lead to female infertility if not treated, and as a health care worker how would you approach the problem. Chlamydia is a very common sexually transmitted disease (STD) that can lead to many problems, including pelvic inflammatory disease (PID) which is a leading cause of infertility in women, and it is caused by sexually transmitted diseases such as gonorrhea or Chlamydia. Chlamydia is treatable, but it is hard to detect, and so sometimes goes untreated and leads to much more serious health concerns. Chlamydia is also one of the biggest health issues in STDs, because so many people get it each year, and so many people do not know they have it.

Chlamydia is a sexually transmitted disease that causes inflammation and adhesions in the vagina. It can be detected with a penile swab or a urine sample, and it is treatable with antibiotics. It can be cured, but the sooner it is treated the better. Because the disease is becoming so prevalent, a lot of research has been done on how to prevent, detect, and cure it, and there have been some breakthroughs. These breakthroughs include "a new drug treatment recently approved by FDA to cure Chlamydia in a single oral dose, and a urine-based screening test that, unlike other tests, does not require a swab sample of cells from the genital area" (Nordenberg 24). These breakthroughs will hopefully reduce Chlamydia in the population, but to be treated and screened, people have to recognize they have a problem, and there seems to be no good way to detect the disease when there are little or no symptoms.

Chlamydia affects both men and women. Men may see a discharge from their penis when they discover the disease, and both sexes may have abdominal pain and pain when urinating. However, not all people show these symptoms, and so Chlamydia can be quite difficult to detect and treat, and that is probably one of the biggest problems with the disease. One author notes, "Chlamydia usually comes with no telltale symptoms, so most people don't even know when they are infected. But left untreated, the so-called 'silent epidemic' of Chlamydia threatens to cause reproductive damage and infertility in many of the 3 million to 4 million Americans who get it each year" (Nordenberg 24). This makes it the most common STD, which means that it is the most common disease that can lead to infertility in women. Writer Nordenberg notes, "Without treatment, the national Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates, Chlamydia can lead in up to 40% of cases to pelvic inflammatory disease, a serious infection of the woman's fallopian tubes that can also damage the ovaries and uterus" (Nordenberg 24). Thus, Chlamydia is a very real health concern, especially to women, and the health care community should be aware of the disease and what treatments are available, so they can treat their patients effectively.

Chlamydia itself does not cause infertility, but it can lead to PID, which can indeed cause infertility in women, and is the largest cause of infertility in women. As one writer notes, "Acute PID is a common cause of tubal fertility problems and is relatively easy to treat with antibiotics, but the effects -- or damage -- are not so easy to deal with" (Tomlins 77). If the disease is treated early enough, it can be treated and healed, but if it is not treated in time, there can be scarring of the fallopian tubes and this can lead to infertility. The woman's eggs simply cannot get through the tubes to reach the uterus, and pregnancy cannot occur.

Dealing with this problem in the health care field is not easy. It is not an easy task to tell a person they have a sexually transmitted disease, and it may have affected their ability to bear children. This is a very personal and emotional matter, and the health care worker should be quite kind, understanding, and reassuring when they break the news to the patient. In addition, they should let the patient know their treatment options, and discuss these options and their success with the patient.

Probably the most important issue is to see if the disease has spread and caused PID or other infections that could affect fertility. If the Chlamydia has progressed to PID or other more serious symptoms, the health care worker should also discuss these with the patient, so they understand the seriousness of the condition. They should comfort the patient if they require it, and they should let them know that PID is not always a cause of infertility. Of course, the health care professional should make sure that men and women are screened for Chlamydia and other STDs routinely, especially since they may not have any symptoms of the disease. Women should be screened during their yearly PAP smears, and men should be screened on a yearly basis, too, especially if they are sexually active.